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Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings. I get to highlight the intriguing books
that are coming out in November. Since it’s currently Nonfiction November, and
bookworms everywhere are devouring as much nonfiction as possible, I have two
hot-off-the-presses true stories for you.
🦃 November 2020 Book Releases 📚
Snap Them Up For Nonfiction November
We Keep The Dead Close: A Murder At Harvard And A Half
Century Of Silence by Becky Cooper
True Crime
November 10, 2020
1969: the
height of counterculture and the year universities would seek to curb the
unruly spectacle of student protest; the winter that Harvard University would
begin the tumultuous process of merging with Radcliffe, its all-female sister
school; and the year that Jane Britton, an ambitious 23-year-old graduate
student in Harvard's Anthropology Department and daughter of Radcliffe Vice
President J. Boyd Britton, would be found bludgeoned to death in her Cambridge,
Massachusetts apartment.
Forty years later, Becky Cooper, a curious
undergrad, will hear the first whispers of the story. In the first telling the
body was nameless. The story was this: a Harvard student had had an affair with
her professor, and the professor had murdered her in the Peabody Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnology because she'd threatened to talk about the affair.
Though the rumor proves false, the story that unfolds, one that Cooper will
follow for ten years, is even more complex: a tale of gender inequality in
academia, a "cowboy culture" among empowered male elites, the
silencing effect of institutions, and our compulsion to rewrite the stories of
female victims.
Why I’m excited: The early reviews have been phenomenal. The
“dark academia” genre has been popular in fiction this year, and now it’s
creeping into nonfiction as well. I guess people can’t get enough of murders on
college campuses. I’m one of
those people who can’t get enough. I never knew there was a murder mystery
involving Harvard. I’m very interested to see the differences between the ghost
story rumors and the truth.
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Memoir
November 17, 2020
Obama takes
readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the
pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism
to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president
of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest
office.
Why I’m
excited:
Judging by the already-massive waitlist at my library, everybody wants to read this book. I like political memoirs because
they usually have fascinating behind-the-scenes information. I’m way more
interested in the daily lives of politicians than in the accomplishments and
problems that get reported in the news. I need some juicy details! I can read
about the rest of the stuff in the newspapers. Hopefully this book has what I’m
looking for.
Fiction
White Ivy by Susie Yang
Adult Literary Mystery
November 3, 2020
Ivy
Lin is a thief and a liar—but you’d never know it by looking at her. Raised
outside of Boston, she is taught how to pilfer items from yard sales and
second-hand shops by her immigrant grandmother. Thieving allows Ivy to
accumulate the trappings of a suburban teen—and, most importantly, to attract
the attention of Gideon Speyer, the golden boy of a wealthy political family.
But when Ivy’s mother discovers her trespasses, punishment is swift and Ivy is sent
to China, where her dream instantly evaporates.
Years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet
restless young woman, haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing
and her family. Back in Boston, when she bumps into Sylvia Speyer, Gideon’s sister,
a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable—it feels like fate.
Slowly, Ivy sinks her claws into Gideon and the
entire Speyer clan by attending fancy dinners and weekend getaways to the Cape.
But just as Ivy is about to have everything she’s ever wanted, a ghost from her
past resurfaces, threatening the nearly perfect life she’s worked so hard to
build.
Why I’m excited: The early reviews have been positive. Readers
are hyped for this book. It's already getting award nominations. It captured my attention because it’s being compared
to The Talented Mr. Ripley, which is
a novel I’ll never forget. I hope to see some complicated, sinister characters.
The Decameron
Project: 29 New Stories From The Pandemic by The New York Times
(Editor)
Short Story Anthology
November 10, 2020
When reality is surreal, only fiction can make sense of it.
In 1353, Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron: one hundred nested tales
told by a group of young men and women passing the time at a villa outside Florence
while waiting out the gruesome Black Death, a plague that killed more than 25
million people. Some of the stories are silly, some are bawdy, some are like
fables.
In March of 2020, the editors of The New
York Times Magazine created The Decameron Project, an
anthology with a simple, time-spanning goal: to gather a collection of stories
written as our current pandemic first swept the globe. How might new fiction
from some of the finest writers working today help us memorialize and
understand the unimaginable? And what could be learned about how this crisis
will affect the art of fiction?
These twenty-nine new stories, from authors
including Margaret Atwood, Tommy Orange, Edwidge Danticat, and David Mitchell
vary widely in texture and tone. Their work will be remembered as a historical
tribute to a time and place unlike any other in our lifetimes, and offer
perspective and solace to the reader now and in a future where coronavirus is,
hopefully, just a memory.
Why I’m excited: Well, this anthology is quite timely, isn’t
it? Some of my favorite writers have stories in this book. I’m especially
looking forward to the work by Margaret Atwood, Kamila Shamsie, and Karen
Russell. Maybe it will motivate me to read the original Decameron. Probably not. That thing is massive.
Those Who Prey by Jennifer Moffett
Young Adult Contemporary
November 10, 2020
College life
isn’t what Emily expected.
She expected to spend freshman year strolling
through the ivy-covered campus with new friends, finally feeling like she
belonged. Instead, she walks the campus alone, still not having found her place
or her people so far away from home.
But then the Kingdom finds her.
The Kingdom, an exclusive on-campus group,
offers everything Emily expected of college and more: acceptance, friends, a
potential boyfriend, and a chance to spend the summer in Italy on a mission
trip. But the trip is not what she thought it would be. Emily and the others
are stripped of their passports and money. They’re cut off from their families
back home. The Kingdom’s practices become increasingly manipulative and
dangerous.
And someone ends up dead.
Why I’m excited: The weird group-cult-thing and murders and
trips to Italy, obviously. I’m also excited to see a young adult book set on a
college campus. Teenagers are very interested in college. It has always seemed
bizarre to me that there aren’t many college books aimed at teenage readers. I
hope this starts a new trend. It’s an untapped market. This book is being compared to Sadie and The Girls, which sounds good to me. I enjoyed both of those novels.
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT BY
CARYS BRAY
Adult Literary Fiction
November 12, 2020
If you believe the world is going to end, how do you live? And
what if, while preparing for disaster, you unwittingly precipitate it? While
Emma Abram prepares for Christmas, her husband is stockpiling food and setting
up a rabbit farm. Chris Abram is preparing for the worst; the imminent floods,
and anything else he can imagine—power cuts, starvation, societal collapse.
Emma longs to lower a rope and winch him from the pit of his worries. But Chris
doesn't want to be rescued or even reassured; he wants to pull her in after
him.
Why I’m excited: Carys Bray is one of those authors I’ve never read but
I’m pretty sure I’ll like. I have a few of her books on my must-read-someday
Pinterest board. The conflict between the husband and wife in this novel got my
attention. I think it’d be hard to live with someone who’s obsessed with the
world ending.
THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK BY
CRAIG DILOUIE
Adult Horror
November 17, 2020
David Young, Deacon Price, and Beth Harris live
with a dark secret. As children, they survived a religious group's horrific
last days at the isolated mountain Red Peak. Years later, the trauma of what
they experienced never feels far behind.
When a fellow survivor commits suicide, they
finally reunite and share their stories. Long-repressed memories surface,
defying understanding and belief. Why did their families go down such a dark
road? What really happened on that final night?
The answers lie buried at Red Peak. But truth
has a price, and escaping a second time may demand the ultimate sacrifice.
Why I’m excited: Honestly, I usually avoid horror stories based on cults because they tend to be poorly researched and sensationalized. I can’t suspend my disbelief enough to get into the story. But, I’m curious about this one because the characters are trying to sort out what happened in their past. That means they should find logical explanations for things, right? I’m crossing my fingers that there aren’t any nonsensical plot twists. This book has the potential to be awesome.
THE WAY BACK BY
GAVRIEL SAVIT
Young Adult Historical Fantasy
November 17, 2020
For the Jews of Eastern Europe, demons are
everywhere: dancing on the rooftops in the darkness of midnight, congregating
in the trees, harrowing the dead, even reaching out to try and steal away the
living.
But the demons have a land of their own: a Far
Country peopled with the souls of the transient dead, governed by demonic
dukes, barons, and earls. When the Angel of Death comes strolling through the
little shtetl of Tupik one night, two young people will be sent spinning off on
a journey through the Far Country. There they will make pacts with ancient
demons, declare war on Death himself, and maybe—just maybe—find a way to make
it back alive.
Why I’m excited: I seem to have a thing about books where
Death is a character. Maybe it goes back to my obsession with The
Book Thief? I don’t know. Whenever Death comes to town,
I want to know who bites the dust. This book is being compared to work by
Philip Pullman and Neil Gaiman. I will be thrilled if it lives up to those
comparisons.
THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS BY
CHLOE GONG
Young Adult Historical Fantasy
November 17, 2020
The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune
of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets
red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is
eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her
role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the
law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the
Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov,
Juliette’s first love . . . and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of
instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to
whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths
stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together,
for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either
to rule.
Why I’m excited: I’m actually on the fence about this one. The setting and time period are super interesting to me, but I’m not sure about the gang thing. Or the Romeo & Juliet thing. Books about romance or gangs are rarely a hit with me. If you’ve read an advanced copy, let me know what you think.
Which November book releases are you excited about?
Gotta read the Obama book! :D
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your monthly release posts. :-) I kept hearing about A Promised Land yesterday. It seems to be one many are looking forward to getting their hands on when it comes out. These Violent Delights is one I have my eye on. When the Lights Go Out is a new one to me--but I definitely would like to read it now that I know about it. I hope you get a chance to read all of these, AJ--and enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteSome great ones on here! The Decameron Project really intrigues me because we are having the students at my school do a "Quaran-Zine" where they share things they've either written during the pandemic or about it for sure. Thanks for sharing all of these!
ReplyDeleteLisa Loves Literature's Wednesday Post
Cool! I also have These Violent Delights on my list! Let's hope we both enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my WoW!
Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog
I didn't realize Barack Obama had a book coming out, that should be a good one!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover of The Way Back. I bet people can't get reading the Obama book soon enough. Michelle's book was such a hit! I am hoping to squeeze These Violent Delights in somewhere. It has such a pretty cover too.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to dip my toe in the YA cult books. I don't know if it's because I vividly remember The Moonies, but I find it all super disturbing.
ReplyDeleteYeah I have the White Ivy novel and Obama's memoir on my TBR list .... it's going to be huge! I think the memoir will be worth the wait. I have pre-ordered it from an indie bookstore.
ReplyDeleteSome of these are new to me like, We Keep the Dead Close, which sounds fabulous by the way. I see a few more that I know I would like to read such as These Violent Delights.
ReplyDeleteI'm really excited for Obama's book too. He's always so eloquent.
ReplyDeleteObama
ReplyDeleteWe Keep the Dead Close sounds wonderful. I will add it to my tbr. 👏👏👏
ReplyDeleteI definitely had to get in line for We Keep the Dead Close; I am 24 on six copies! I also am in line for Obama's book - the Kindle version and print version, to see which comes first. I got in fairly early so I am 68th on 17 physical books, and 18th on 1 copy for Kindle.
ReplyDelete